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From the beginning, they were fast, exciting and looked like they were born to fly. Today, classic "muscle" cars continue to attract consumer attention with their sleek designs, sporty styling and high performance.
What we now think of as muscle cars were manufactured mainly in the decade between the '60s through the early '70s," explains Wes Davis, president of Bob Davis Automotive Group, a Fort Wayne car-repair business specializing in repair and restoration of classic-era cars. "The Big Three automotive companies wanted to cash in on the growing hot-rod craze of the time, so they came out with primarily mid-size automobiles powered by huge V8 engines and equipped with rear-wheel drive. Those cars became some of the most popular automobiles ever produced. They're still highly sought after."
Davis knows about what he speaks. As the fourth-generation owner of a Fort Wayne-based family automotive firm, he literally grew up around cars. The business was founded in 1928 by his great grandfather, Dwight Davis. In 1949, Dwight's son, Bob, joined the partnership, and the two worked together until Dwight's death in 1960. Incorporated as Bob Davis Automotive in 1966, the firm moved to its current facility in 1972. In 1978, Bob Davis died and his son, Larry, became sole stockholder and president the following year. In 1992, Larry's son, Wes, joined the business, and took it over in 2001, expanding to include performance, street-rod, custom, classic and muscle-car restoration, sales and service.
Two different types of muscle car collectors today typically make up Davis' classic car customer base: the "originality" collector, and the hot rod collector looking for performance and horsepower. "Originality collectors, also known as 'legit' collectors, are those who are looking for the VIN (Vehicle Identification Numbers) to match - on the carburetors, the blocks, the heads. If all the numbers match, it usually means that over the last 30 or 40 years, the car has remained the same. Its can get so stringent that, literally, if the color has been changed on a car, the value decreases by 20 percent. Those mint cars usually get top dollar - they're the ones you...